PM must perform diplomatic dance

DIPLOMATIC sensitivities mean the Prime Minister, John Howard,
has no plans to hold bilateral meetings with Taiwan's
representative to the APEC gathering in Sydney or Papua New
Guinea's Prime Minister, Michael Somare.

A senior Taiwanese official told the Herald a one-on-one
meeting would be in "Australia's national interest" - especially
regarding high technology co-operation - but conceded China would
protest if there was to be one.

For diplomatic reasons, the millionaire founder of the Acer
computer company, Stan Shih, is the official representative to
APEC, rather than the President, Chen Shui-bian, because Taiwan is
in the 21-member grouping as an "economy" to get around the vexed
issue of nationhood.

China still regards Taiwan as a renegade province and as part of
its "One China" policy seeks to limit the countries affording it
diplomatic recognition.

The Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, recently
criticised both China and Taiwan for extending their rivalry into a
battle for formal ties with Pacific island nations.

Mr Shih, now chairman of the Asia Business Council, designed and
commercialised Taiwan's first desktop calculator before going on to
make Acer one of the world's top producers of computers.

The Taiwanese official told the Herald yesterday that Mr
Shih would "definitely meet" Mr Howard in the context of the APEC
summit later this week, but conceded there were limited prospects
for any late arranging of a bilateral meeting.

"It is a problem because if arrangements for a meeting are made
public China will object," the official said.

A spokesman for Mr Howard confirmed that there was no intention
for him to hold direct talks with Mr Shih or PNG's Sir Michael. Sir
Michael's return to the leadership following recent national
elections has seen him secure bilateral meetings in Sydney with
China's President, Hu Jintao, who is due to travel from Canberra to
Sydney today, as well as Russia's Vladimir Putin and Japan's Shinzo
Abe.

The lack of a bilateral meeting between Mr Howard and Sir
Michael follows demands by Canberra that the PNG Government release
an internal inquiry report on the smuggling of the fugitive
Australian lawyer Julian Moti out of the country late last
year.

The report implicated Sir Michael in the covert operation
despite Australia seeking Moti's extradition on child sex charges.
PNG said it should not have been embroiled in the matter.

"If Australia thinks our relationship should be determined on
the one issue of Moti, I think that is very sad because for us it
is not an issue," Ms Somare, who acts a spokeswoman for her father,
said yesterday.

China is an increasingly large investor in PNG, including in its
multibillion-dollar natural gas reserves as well as nickel and
cobalt mining.